US Suicide Rates Up, While Global Numbers at Record Low

In this Oct. 15, 2017, file photo, a child plays beside a message board adorned with notes for loved ones who took their own lives during an Out of the Darkness Walk event organized by the Cincinnati Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention at Sawyer Point Park in Cincinnati. Suicide rates inched up in nearly every U.S. state from 1999 through 2016, according to a new government report released Thursday, June 7, 2018.

The Economistrecently found that global rates of suicide have declined by 29 percent since the year 2000. The same report also pointed to the fact that suicides in the U.S. have increased, especially among “middle-aged, white, poorly educated rural people.” Some have argued that the U.S. rates have gone up because of a lack of healthcare, the opiate crisis, and access to guns, while global rates have gone down because of wider development. Joining us to discuss is Jonathan Singer. He is an Associate Professor of Social Work at Loyola University Chicago and board member of the American Association of Suicidology.